


Three Battles

by LegionOfMany



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M, also casually following the anime, also it is technically a reader-insert but written in third person, don't ask why idek myself, english grammar continues to confuse me as my entire vocabulary abandons me, female pronouns are used, for the sake of plot, meaning that I'm completely ignoring all logic and card game rules, screw the rules I have creative freedom, this is incredibly self-indulgent and I'm already screaming in embarrassment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 15:31:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19704271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegionOfMany/pseuds/LegionOfMany
Summary: Some people just don't learn... or do they?[ Kaiba/Reader oneshot that was vaguely inspired by Duel Links Kaiba insulting everyone and some of the background character still being super positive and nice ]





	Three Battles

The first time they duelled, Kaiba had essentially wiped the floor with her, her deck barely withstanding his skill for more than three turns. How someone like her had managed to earn the privilege of challenging him was a mystery to him, but it pissed him off. Had the other competitors seriously been bad enough as though they would lose to her?

“You are a third-rate duelist with a fourth-rate deck.”

He had expected her to get angry or hurt, like everyone else. He had expected outrage on her face and an insulting retort in turn. It was part of what made it all worth his time, after all; proving to the rabble that they were nothing more but that. What Kaiba had not been prepared for, was the way her defeated expression immediately lit up, a smile appearing on her lips as she met his gaze.

“So you’re saying, if I work on my deck more, I’ll improve?”

Completely taken aback, it had taken him a few seconds before he was able to gather his wits, her shameless suggestion having left him speechless for a moment. How she had gathered that from his words was incomprehensible to him. He had only called her third-rate because she had somehow gotten this far.

“I’m saying that you should give up before you embarrass yourself and everyone watching you any further.”

Even then she hadn’t gotten mad, only laughing as if he had just made a joke, thanking him for the duel. Saying that she was going to improve to where even he would acknowledge her skill. As if. Trash like her always liked to talk big, but almost never managed to live up to their words. He had only huffed, glaring after her as she exited the stage.

The second time they battled was, when she had stopped him outside his company building. At first he had wanted to have security drag her off the premises, but something about the way she grinned at him in confidence was irritating him immensely. He knew that he wouldn’t be satisfied unless he completely crushed her a second time and wipe that idiot smile off her face for good.

Postponing the entire meeting that had been scheduled for him, he had led her inside and back to the arena. This time the fight lasted longer – much longer than he had anticipated. What should have been over in ten seconds dragged on for almost twenty minutes, before his blue-eyes obliterated her setup and life points. But not without her having made him lose almost 500 points himself – which most people wouldn’t even bat an eye at, but it actually drove him livid. To think that trash like her had actually managed to scratch at his life points!

And still she didn’t seem in the slightest bit perturbed. If anything, her damn smile was even wider now.  
“I told you I’d improve!”, she called out to him, looking awfully full of herself. Did she actually think, she had achieved anything? In the end she had still lost! So why was she standing there, sneering at him as though it had been her victory?

“You have done nothing of the sort. Your deck is still barely even worth my time. Just changing a few spell cards doesn’t change a thing about that!”

That snide remark made her think, the insult his words had been laced with apparently not bothering her in the slightest.

“So you’re suggesting I should take a look at the monster cards I’m using again…? I’ll do that then, thanks!”

Kaiba could have exploded right there and then, hands trembling as he clenched them into fists. She was driving him mad, the way she looked at him with even more confidence than before the fight. The way she smiled. The way she fucking thanked him as though he had just given her a helpful tip. Without another word he had whipped around, barking a command at the security guards to escort her off the area, before returning to the business he had neglected because of her.

Their third battle wasn’t until almost a year later. He had done his best to push her from his mind for his sanity’s sake. At first he had been loathing the idea of her returning for another battle. Yet, as the months passed without a sign of her, the source of his anger changed as he wondered what she was making him wait for. Had she finally realised her lack of skill and given up? Ran with her tail between her legs? Good riddance. And yet he couldn’t help but feel insulted. Several times he found himself almost tempted to go and find her himself, dragging her from her hiding spot and have her face her shame.

It was just after new year when they met again. His security had informed him that someone was standing down at the entrance, asking to see him despite the late hour. Thinking it was one of his business partners, he had told them to bring the visitor to his office. But instead, he had found himself greeted with the sight of her, cheeks red from the cold and giving him that stupidly cheerful grin again. Bothering him not only once, but twice at his work… was she overly bold or just stupid? Still, he didn’t send her away. This was a lesson he would teach her, no matter how long it would take to get past that thick skull of hers; he was superior. Nothing she could do would ever make her anything beyond a plebeian compared to him.

This time they hadn’t moved to the arena. He saw no reason to bother – this would end faster than it would take for them to walk down to the basement. Not to mention that it was late and he was not in the mood of starting up the system again just for her. He had told her, almost commanded her to take a seat on the opposite site of his desk, sitting in his chair like a king upon his throne. She had happily followed, taking her coat off and pulling out her deck of cards. Somehow that only irritated him further, the glare he shot her clothing being murderous enough as though the heavy coat should have caught fire and burned to cinders immediately. In turn she had only thanked him for letting her in despite the hour.

All thoughts of what she did or did not do with her attire were forgotten though as soon as the battle started. It begun simple enough, her being quickly pushed into a corner and having to defend against his onslaught of attacks. Turn after turn, she would do nothing than put down cannon-fodder monsters to protect her life points, while he continued to build up a solid setting. Three turns in it was already clear to him that he had won; she was just dragging out the inevitable.

And it annoyed him. How had her deck gotten even worse than the first time they had duelled? Was she just here to waste his time?

“Quit while you’re at it”, he finally snapped after the sixth turn in which she did nothing else other than putting monsters face down in defense position. Her side was almost empty aside from a single face-down card she hadn’t even touched this entire time yet. “You’re wasting my time.”

She looked at him, almost surprised, before laughing. Sheepishly, almost apologetic. Another pang of irritation. Rather than laughing, she should give up for good and get out of his sight already!

“Sorry sorry! Not much longer anymore, promise!”

He answered by annihilating yet another of her sacrificial pawns, followed up by a heavy blow to her remaining life points. It definitely wasn’t going to last much longer anymore, no; with her joke of tactics, it would only take him another turn or maybe two at most to end this.

The next time she attacked, she was left with barely 200 remaining points to her name and a graveyard filled with monsters. It was obviously a lost battle for her, and yet… why the hell was she looking so happy? Not even once had she looked worried about the turn of events, patiently continuing to block as much damage as she could. Was she actually enjoying losing to him? So, not only trash, but also a freak on top. If that was what she was here for, then he would make sure to give her just what she wanted before kicking her out into the snow.

Her turn came. Glancing at her graveyard, she gave a small smile, looking almost… smug? Drawing a card, she carefully sorted it into her hand, before picking out another one – one which had been on her hand for almost the entirety of the game, he noted dryly – and looked at him.

“I’m putting down a monster in attack position.”

He froze. Attack position? What kind of card could she possibly have with the power to go up against two of his blue-eyes? Or had she just finally decided to get this over with quickly?!  
She put down the card in question and Kaiba almost laughed out loud. A one-starred card. Of all the things, she put down a one-starred card. A trash card becoming of a trash duelist, he supposed. A fitting end; her losing her final points before his power, her only line of defense being a card with an attack and defense value of zero.

“There are easier ways to give up”, he mocked, his own blue eyes now moving from the card to meet hers. She smiled back at him, looking amused.

“Tell me about it.”

Her unfazed attitude quickly wiped his own glee from his face as instead he now became alerted. She might be an idiot, but he knew that even she wasn’t enough of a fool to believe that this card would be able to defeat him just like this. Immediately his gaze flickered down towards her measly offense again. He had been so focused on the level and stats of the card, he had paid absolutely no attention to the name or description. But now, that he actually looked what she had played, he felt his blood run cold, before it flared up in rage. That had to be a joke.  
A Chaos Necromancer.

He immediately realised that she had set him up; this entire game, the entire process of letting him destroy one monster card after another, it had all just been a set-up for this moment. She had played him like a fucking fool. But he had no intention of letting her win. Sure, she could take down one of his dragons – but he had a spell card on his hand that would render the necromancer useless on the next turn. If she thought she had defeated him, then she was wrong-

“I’ll also reveal my face-down card now.”

He froze, just watching as she reached out to flip the single card she had placed behind her front lines this entire time. This couldn’t be real. This just couldn’t be real.

“Double attack! I’ll tribute my Vampiric Koala and in turn allow Chaos Necromancer to attack twice this turn. With that, there are now… hold on-“

Taking her graveyard, she began to count the amount of monsters in it, Kaiba only staring in a daze.

“-Fourteen monster cards in the graveyard! So that’s, uh… three… 4200 attack power for my necromancer! I’m moving to my battle phase now.”

Pausing, she looked at him, giving him the chance to play a trap card or similar. But there was nothing for him to play. He had underestimated her so severely that he hadn’t even bothered to prepare for a counter attack on her end – because there was supposed to be none!

His blue-eyes were destroyed in a flash, her first level card cutting through them like a hot knife through butter. Her turn ended, his side now void of monsters – the third blue-eyes had never found his way onto his hand so far, and seeing how he had been convinced he would win, he had never really cared about that either.

When he didn’t react for several seconds, her smile disappeared as instead her expression turned worried.

“Are… are you okay?”  
“… joke.”  
“What?”  
“This has to be a joke.”

His chair clattered in protest as he got to his feet abruptly, hands slamming down onto the top of his desk, making her jump. Eyes wide she just stared at him as he inhaled deeply, trying to contain his anger. What was she attempting to achieve? Why was she always coming back to duel him? Had she been working towards this moment the entire time? Was that the reason why she had always just been sneering in his face after every battle?! Some plot to humiliate him? Blackmail him? Most women that came to talk to him were usually gold diggers after his money. If this was a means to seduce him, then she definitely was doing it wrong.

“What are you trying to pull here?”

His voice was dangerously low and trembling with barely contained rage as he spoke. She clearly was taken aback by his sudden outburst, eyes still wide.

“I-I knew you would destroy my monsters very quickly, so I thought the Chaos Necromancer-”

“Not the game!”, he interrupted her sharply, raising his voice now, his glare making her shut up quickly again. Just sitting in her chair, staring at him wide-eyed as a few of their monster cards silently slipped off the table after his sudden outburst.

“Is it about money?”  
“What-”  
“Fame?!”  
“No I don’t-”  
“Blackmailing me then?”  
“I’m telling you I’m not-”

“Then WHAT are you here for?!”, he barked at last, cutting her off again angrily as he threw out his hand, blue eyes as ferocious as those of his dragons.

“I wanted to spend time with you!”, she finally burst out equally angry, having gotten onto her feet as well now, hands slamming down onto his desk as well. As soon as the words left her lips, her angry expression changed into one of surprise, before her cheeks flared up. He actually found himself too stunned to reply, just staring at her in perplexed disbelief.

Swallowing hard, her hands curled into small fists, the young woman averted her eyes now, no longer meeting his. Taking a shaky breath she continued to speak.

“I-I looked up to you, ever since I started playing. I saw you on television once, which is what made me start Duel Monsters as well. And when I actually got to duel you, I was so… excited. And you even told me that there was still room for me to get better. You didn’t tell me that I am a lost case, so I wanted to show you once I improved, even though I knew there was almost no chance you would see me again. B-but then you actually did battle me again, once again telling me where I had to improve, s-so I thought that maybe… you t-too maybe liked…”

She cut off there, the red of her cheeks having taken a deeper shade of red now. He still only just stared, blue eyes wide with shock. Unable to move. Unable to speak, no coherent thought forming in his head.

A few seconds passed, neither of them moving or saying anything, before she exhaled shakily. Tense shoulders relaxing, she reached out and delicately began to gather up their scattered cards, slipping her deck into her pocket before holding out his half of the cards to him, smiling at him. Not the dumbly happy smile she would usually show him, making her look like an absolute buffoon. The kind of smile that would haunt him days afterward, making him irritated whenever it popped up in his memories again. No, this smile was like that of his secretary. Perfect, moderate. Empty.

“I must have really bothered you. I’m sorry for the inconveniences I have caused you so far. I think I should take my leave now…”

Slowly he moved, taking his cards from her fingers. As soon as he had them, she gave a deep bow, excusing herself before turning around and taking her coat, moving towards the door without glancing at him again.

Dumbfoundedly and speechless still, his gaze fell down onto the cards in his hand. On top of the small stack, his two blue-eyes - the very same ones she had just defeated in this battle. Defeated with this ridiculous strategy she had prepared, just for him. Solely for fighting him. After losing to him twice in a way that would have made every other duellist give up on the game for good. But each time she had just smiled at him, thanked him for the duel and declaring that she would improve. Taking his insults as advice, seeing it as encouragement while he had done his utmost to deter him from ever wasting anyone’s time with a duel again. An utter and complete idiot.

How dare she just walk out on him?

The cards were carelessly dropped onto the desk as he quickly made his way around it, following after her. She had already reached the exit at this point, but he was faster. With a bang, the door she had just opened was slammed shut again by his hand, just inches from her own hand, making her flinch. Head ducked, she finally turned to look at him again and he froze. Tears had filled her eyes, rolling down her cheeks as she looked at him wide-eyed. Had she tried to hide them from him?

Idiot.

With a growl his other hand grabbed her by the chin - far more gentle than his behaviour would betray - tilting her head up as his lips met with hers in a kiss. Not a sweet and gentle one. This kiss was conquering, devouring and possessive. Stealing her breath and overwhelming her without giving her a chance to fight back. No, that wasn’t it - she wasn’t fighting in the first place, hands clutching onto his dress shirt without the slightest hint of resistance.

Idiot.

He had fully pushed her against the hard surface of the door behind her now, trapping her with his body. Kaiba had never realised how small she was compared to him, his tall frame towering over here. It wasn’t until he could feel her hands trembling against his chest that he broke the kiss, pulling away just far enough to let her catch her breath. Her face was still flushed, maybe even more now than before, the woman looking up at him in dazed confusion, still teary-eyed.

“K-Kaiba…?”

Idiot.

“Seto”, he commanded sharply before closing the distance between them again in another kiss that was more teeth and anger than anything else. The hand on her chin had moved now to instead press against the side of her face, brushing past it until long fingers curled into her hair. Not quite pulling yet, but keeping her in place - or maybe anchoring himself?

Idiot.

Her coat had dropped to the ground again now, obstructing him as he attempted to close the distance between their bodies even further. Again Kaiba broke the kiss, kicking the piece of clothing aside as he heaved her up against the door, pinning her up with his hips. Instinctively she wrapped her arms around him to maintain her balance, making the scent of her perfume fill his nose. No, not perfume he realised - soap.

Idiot.

“S-Seto-”, she gasped breathlessly, her voice both insecure and yet shaking with something else, sending electricity down his spine. 

Idiot.

“Shut up”, he replied curtly, his voice sounding equally breathless as he captured her lips yet again. Finding himself almost drunk on her, unwilling to ever let her go again.

What an idiot he was.

She made a sound into his mouth - somewhere between a whimper and a moan - and he felt the last bits of his self control crumbling. Tearing himself from her, he almost dropped her, the only thing steadying her being his hands still on her hips.

“Elevator”, he only strainedly ordered, his voice having dropped a few octaves at this point. She didn’t protest, simply following after him as Kaiba turned and swiftly made his way over to a set of metal doors to the right of his office. With one hand still holding on to her wrist, unwilling to let go, he procured a simple keycard from the pocket of his jeans, swiping it and causing the gates to slide open soundlessly. The moment they had opened up enough for them to enter, he had already pushed her back up against the back wall, hitting the key to his penthouse without even looking at it. Only focusing on the women before him, wiping the tears from her face before closing in again. Watching the way she completely gave in to him, her hands finding his shoulders, pulling herself against him.

An idiot that had completely misinterpreted.

The doors opened again behind them with a faint, cool tingling, revealing his private quarters behind them. He didn’t even wait for her to walk after him, scooping her up with ease, hot body pressed against him as he strode across the room and towards his bedroom. Dropping her onto the silken bedsheets before following right after her, the cool colors suiting her heated appearance. Her original stunned passive behaviour had passed now, soft hands reaching out and cupping his face as he moved in for yet another kiss. Body pushing up against his, the sweetness of her touch only adding to the unbearable heat within him. Which he had thought to be anger all this time.

Not only misinterpreting her, but also himself.

His hands found their way below her clothing with ease, stripping her of the restricting material impatiently as her hands moved to release him of his own attire. This ridiculously flimsy barrier shielding her from his gaze and touch.

She took him with the same amount of grace that he had lost the moment his lips had first claimed hers, embracing him in delirious happiness. Accepting him with all his edges and scrapes. Accepting him even though she had experienced his unkind side, seeing what little kindness there was in it. Treating him so gently, so lovingly that he found himself desperately craving more. Found himself wanting to be better.

Kaiba couldn’t tell when they fell asleep. He couldn’t tell when their desire had finally been fulfilled - or if exhaustion had taken them before that. All he knew was that he woke up the next morning, the woman curled up in his arms, warming him against the chill morning air. Sleeping, her relaxed state making him feel as though all worries were far out of reach, held back by an invisible barrier. A comfortable, silent, soft moment that he didn’t remember he ever had experienced before. 

His fingers ran across her skin with a gentleness he didn’t know from himself, tracing the marks he had left on her body and making her stir in his embrace. Eyes slowly blinking awake, dazedly looking around before finding his face. She smiled again, a sleepy, wry mirror image of the very same dumb grin she would give him after battles. It made his heart throb, eyes narrowing as he moved atop her again, inching closer towards her lips.

“Big brother?”

The call made him freeze in place, his face less than an inch away from hers as both of them looked at each other in various degrees of dawning realisation as his brother’s voice called out to him from the living room. Then there was the sound of footsteps approaching the bedroom and they finally woke from their locked-up state. Kaiba dove for the bedsheets to cover himself while she actually launched herself off the bed, tumbling to the ground behind it with a low thump. Not a moment too soon, either, Mokuba just stepping into the room as she disappeared.

“What was that sound? And why are you n-naked??”

Kaiba’s cheeks felt flushed, yet he hoped the twilight in his room would hide that as instead he put on his usual stoic mask as he faced his younger brother.

“It was warm tonight. What do you need, Mokuba?”

The excuse seemed to work on his sweetly naive brother, as his confused expression cleared up and he instead gave his brother a smile, arms folded behind his head in a casual fashion.

“I wanted to come get you for the meeting. The head managers are all waiting already, you know! It’s not like you to oversleep like this, brother.”

Kaiba groaned as he was suddenly reminded of the meeting that he himself had scheduled this early in the morning. How had he forgotten about this? Bringing up one hand to cover his face for a moment, silently berating himself, he then looked back at his still widely grinning brother.

“Tell them I will be there in a minute.”

With a laugh and a confirmation, the boy ran off, Kaiba waiting until he could hear the elevator doors sliding shut before he exhaled, relaxing tense shoulders. A shuffling sound told him, that the girl that had just leapt off his bed moments ago was also moving from her hiding spot again, sheepishly looking at him as she got back onto her feet.

“I’m sorry- you missed that because of me, no?”  
His eyes instinctively roamed her bare body as she carefully got back onto the mattress, his eyes lingering on her curves for just a moment too long before he quickly forced himself to avert his gaze, huffing instead.

“I am the CEO. Without me they cannot start this meeting, so obviously I also cannot miss it.”

She only chuckled at that, unfazed by the harsh tone he used as instead she began to fidget with her hair.

“Fair. I guess then I should also, um… get going. Since you have work now-”

He cut her off with a hand against her forehead, pushing her head back down into the pillows as she yelped.

“Stay. If anyone sees you leave, it will spread rumors and ruin my reputation. I’m not as incompetent as though this meeting will take long anyways.”

She looked at him in surprise, cheeks taking on a soft shade of pink again, before she laughed, sounding absolutely elated.

“So that means you like me then?”

Just how was she getting that from his words? How could she take his words, laced with venom and insult and completely turn them upside down every time? And just… just why did he realise that she was right?

“You are driving me insane.”

In response she only snickered to herself, cheeks still painted pink as she contently looked at him.

“You do like me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Originally I just wrote this for myself on the plane in an attempt to distract myself from my fear of flying--  
> But my friend urged me to post it, so here it is sobs Q7Q
> 
> Enjoy my (thinly veiled) thirst for Kaiba.


End file.
